this is an update. that's about it.

I shouldn't update just for the sake of updating but I can't really think of anything especially interesting to write... However the blog needs updating.

In a few I am gonna go babysit. I just got off work about half an hour ago. I've been working full days this week, except the days we were in Chicago (which was lots of fun like always!). Next week I am only working afternoons though, so I get to sleep in which I am really looking forward to. That's what breaks are all about. That, and no homework!! I am going to like next semester though. My classes seem interesting, especially Art History, and I won't have to get up at 6:30 three days a week any more, so it's all good :-).

I really don't have anything else to say. Wow, Sara is speechless. Enjoy it while it lasts because my next post will probably be some super long editorial-like thing on some evil or other. (Which reminds me...I had a wonderful Dec. 25th, thank you very much!)

Now it is time to figure out something to eat...

Nobody's perfect

...least of all me!

This is a song by Casting Crowns called "Stained Glass Masquerade". Someday I will put my own stuff here instead of what others write...

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small
Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong
So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage
The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be
Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay


Is the love of Jesus even really there is what I find myself asking... I know it's there, as in, it exists, but does it exist in the church the way it should? Do people really do things motivated purely by God's love for another brother or sister in Christ? Or are those selfish desires always hiding around there somewhere? So far those selfish desires seem to have never left me...

dance pictures!!!

Top: Jacob, Mike, and Ben
Bottom: me, Kelly, and Liz
Don't see Ben? Look closer ...no closer...jk! Unfortunately he got sick and couldn't make it, but don't worry, we made sure Liz had fun anyway!





















Liz, Kelly, and me all dressed up! We do more than study here...don't tell Mom!





















Kelly and Mike....awww!

It is the end of an age...

I just finished my last class of the semester! It was a French oral exam. I had to talk about what movies we have seen, if we liked them, and what movie we want to see next, with two guys in my class in front of the professor. It didn't go terribly well. There were lots of pauses. On a happier note, I got a Starbucks peppermint mocha while we were studying! Yumm those things just make the day go better. And they make Sara hyper. Watch out world....

The snow is beautiful but it can be so dangerous...I've been watching cars sliding all over the place and I've almost slipped more times than I can remember. I have to admit if I ended up in a snow drift I would be laughing though! Back to the beautiful but dangerous thing...snow is not the only thing in this category. I think I am far more attracted than I should be to things that look good on the outside but hide the evil within. Something to think about I suppose.

I will be home in a week (after a portfolio review and three finals...plus one more art project due...)! And I will have a great time with all of you who live in Indy!!! Right?

strange fire?

You should also read Stacey's blog: www.landofpromise.blogspot.com.

So I was writing an e-mail to my Bible study leader because she wanted to know why I don't celebrate Christmas...and it was just so thought-provoking that I have to share it with all y'alls. Even if you don't find a way to apply this to Christmas like I do, it IS the Word of God and thus applies to your life somehow. It is up to you to listen to what God wants you to learn from this. Somehow I doubt that what He wants you to learn is," Sara is an idiot so you should leave nasty comments on her blog". Heh :-). Just trying to keep the peace.

Leviticus 20:23 says, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them." The verses before this passage lists specific abominations of the nations. The verses following give the promise of God to inherit the land as well as a command to be holy in verse 26. Jeremiah 10:2 says, "Do not learn the way of the nations...." and it goes on to speak of an idol that many people liken to a Christmas tree (cutting a tree down, decorating it with gold and silver, fastening it so it will not totter...hmmm...). II Kings 17:33 speaks of a people that "feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the customs of the nations...." and thus were not holy in God's sight. You can't mix God with what the rest of the world is doing!

Leviticus 10 relates a passage where Nadab and Abihu worship God in a wrong way. God had commanded them to offer incense to Him. However, it had to be the type He specified, not the "strange fire" that they offered. So, even if your motives are to serve God (sort of), it's no good if you don't do it in the way He specified. Here is the passage: "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the Lord spoke, saying, "By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored." So Aaron therefore kept silent." ~Leviticus 10:1-3. Being in Christ we are like the sons of Aaron-- we have access to the throne room of God through the Holy Spirit! So, then we have to ask, am I bringing "strange fire" before the Lord? Is taking a holiday that used to be pagan (and it could be argued that it still is...) offering God fire that He did not command? Yes, on the outside it looks like you're doing the right thing: oh, yeah, he's offering incense to God. Check out how holy he is. But err umm have you looked at that incense lately?

My problem with Christmas is not that families get together and give each other preents. My problem is that people think that they are worshipping God but He never told us to worship Him this way....did He?

Enough thoughts for the day? Yes, I believe so.